Maternal sensitivity in rural Andean and Amazonian Peru

In the current study, we observed 12 mothers with a 4-21-month-old infant for around 3 hours during their daily activities such as feeding, bathing, and soothing in the multiple-caregiver cultural contexts of rural Peru. Overall, sensitivity levels were high, with an average of 7.33 (out of 9), and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Attachment & human development 2021-04, Vol.23 (2), p.134-149
Main Authors: Fourment, Katherine, Nóblega, Magaly, Conde, Gabriela, del Prado, Juan Nuñez, Mesman, Judi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
indigenous community
maternal sensitivity
multiple caregivers
Peru
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Summary:In the current study, we observed 12 mothers with a 4-21-month-old infant for around 3 hours during their daily activities such as feeding, bathing, and soothing in the multiple-caregiver cultural contexts of rural Peru. Overall, sensitivity levels were high, with an average of 7.33 (out of 9), and seven of the twelve mothers scoring in the high range (scores 7-9), and the remaining five in the good-enough range (scores 5-6). A qualitative description of sensitive responsiveness is presented through representative examples. Notable patterns were flexibility in caregiving routines that allow for very child-centered maternal behavior; mothers' ability to multitask, combining household and agricultural work with high sensitive responsiveness to their infants' signals; the presence of multiple caregivers that ensured that the infants were well attended when mothers were temporarily unavailable; and what seems to be a culturally normative tendency to be sensitively responsive to very young children.
ISSN:1461-6734
1469-2988
DOI:10.1080/14616734.2020.1828515